Cocaine Use Found in 18.2% of N. Y. Traffic Deaths

A study of 643 people killed in New York City traffic accidents shows that 18.2% had used cocaine within 48 hours of the accident, researchers said Thursday.

They said that of those 643, blood-alcohol and cocaine tests were available for 378 drivers, and 56% had used one or both.

“This will be a national problem,” the lead researcher, Dr. Peter M. Marzuk, said. “I think if you looked at driver fatalities in other large cities you might find relatively comparable results.”

Marzuk and his colleagues at Cornell University Medical College in New York City and at the New York City medical examiner’s office looked at records of the 905 traffic fatalities of passengers or drivers from 1984 through 1987.

Appropriate autopsy findings were available for 643 of the traffic victims, and 18.2% showed evidence of cocaine use within 48 hours before the accident, the researchers reported in today’s Journal of the American Medical Assn.

Among the drivers--70% of the 643--the prevalence of cocaine use was 20%. Of the drivers ages 16 to 45, the prevalence was 24.3%, the researchers wrote.

“That’s high. That’s the highest I’ve seen,” said Steven Gust, a research psychologist with the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Rockville, Md.

Previous studies had found prevalences ranging from 3% to 11%, he said, adding that there are regional differences in cocaine use.

The authors cautioned that their findings do not prove that cocaine use caused the accidents, but the study said that there are several reasons to suggest that cocaine might compromise driving ability.

“Minutes after cocaine administration, users report feeling hyper-alert and euphoric but can also report aggressiveness, irritability, psychotic distortions and a tendency toward greater risk-taking,” it said.